The Ring Collection - Limited Edition [Blu-ray]

The media could not be loaded.  Most audiences will be more familiar with the 2002 American remake The Ring (which is actually the best), the decent sequel Ring 2, and the appalling Rings, from a few years ago. I'm willing to bet none of you know the full extent of this franchise outside of the US.The full list of Ring movies is as follows:Ringu (1995) - TV movie (not in this box set)Ringu (1998)Rasen (1998) - the "real" sequelThe Ring Virus (1999) - a Korean adaptation (not in this box set)Ringu 2 (1999) - the apology sequelRingu 0 (2000) - a prequelSadako (2012) - a revival (not in this box set)Sadako 2 (2013) - another sequel (not in this box set)Sadako vs Kayako (2016) - essentially "The Ring vs The Grudge" (not in this box set)We have four movies featured across three discs here.Ringu (1998) - 3.5/5I have never seen the original Ringu until recently and have only ever been familiar with the 2002 American remake by Gore Verbinski. It's been a while since I saw that version, and it may seem controversial to purists, but I think both movies deserve credit.When teenagers begin dying in mysterious and horrifying circumstances, feisty journalist Reiko sets about finding out why, recruiting her estranged boyfriend Yoshino once she finds a creepy video tape and receives a chilling phone call after viewing. Their quest leads them across the country, uncovering old family secrets, and solving a decades old murder.It's intriguing, but I honestly preferred the more complex mystery and reality-bending, dreamlike nature of the 2002 version. The cursed video tape here is nowhere near as scary or hypnotic. However, the naturalised photography, quiet sound design, and multiple locations here are superior to Verbinski's remake.I'm not sure that everything translates well to non-Japanese audiences. Who is the towel-headed man? Did I miss something? What does this add up to? Also, it takes place during the month I turned 17 and I'm telling you the dates/days are completely incorrect, which is odd since a calendar displaying September 1997 is clearly visible on Reiko's wall. I will chalk this up to poor subtitling instead of a fault by the filmmakers.The highest-grossing Japanese horror movie ever, Ringu deserves its place as a horror classic, despite its small measure of shortcomings and was the driving force behind the popularization of Yurei in Japanese folklore.Rasen (1998) - 2.5/5This "forgotten" sequel to Ringu side-steps into a different genre and goes in a different direction. Though based on Koji Suzuki's novel, and therefor the real sequel, it's lack of popularity among fans has unofficially left it out of continuity.Immediately after the first film, Mitsuo Ando, a depressed pathologist discovers that his next autopsy is his old friend Yoshino, the boyfriend of Reiko who was killed when Sadako climbed out of the television. While battling demons of his own, Ando slowly unfolds the mystery of the cursed video tape, the history of Sadako, and of the true extent of Yoshino's psychic powers.There's not much suspense, and it trades off the mystery of the first film far too much without building much of its own. The logic and climax of the first is completely sold out yet it still doesn't bother to explain certain elements, such as the towel-headed man or the alteration Mai made to Yoshino's lengthy equation. I can accept supernatural plot contrivances but Spiral incongruously downplays the curse with a mundane virus explanation while also pushing the metaphysics too far and becomes downright laughable at times. By the end you're watching a completely different movie and it's not satisfying. I could tell that the easy code found in Yoshino's stomach was obviously written on the tiny scrap of paper torn from the corner of Ando's drawing of his son on the beach. What was the meaning behind this? It's never revealed.The Ring series hit a dead-end with this movie and it was a better idea to make a sequel more fitting, writing this out of existence. The suspense is minimal, there's little atmosphere, and the self-contained logic of the series is thrown out the window. Watch only as a confusing curiosity.Ringu 2 (1999) - 3/5After audiences rejected Spiral, the "true" sequel to the first Ring movie, the production company quickly greenlighted this movie as an apology and to get their cash cow back on track, sort of like what they did with Highlander 3 after the awful Highlander 2.With Spiral now forgotten as a "what if" side movie, the principal cast is back and the scares are more traditional, rather than the thoughtful bore attempted previously. Mai now takes the lead, unravelling the mystery of Sadako after the death-by-television haunting of her boyfriend Ryuji. The trail, very slowly leads to the discovery of the cursed video tape and the reveal of where Reiko and Yoichi disappeared to. Meanwhile, an overzealous doctor theorizes he can cure anyone possessed by Sadako's curse by some sort of strange water therapy that drains them of psychic illness.The idea of Mai also being psychic is passed on from Spiral, but now Yoichi's foundering abilities make him a prime target for ghost possession too, creating a quartet of psychics and a headache-inducing series of confusing events. The towel-headed man is still not explained, neither is the math formula that Mai altered in Ryuji's apartment. It was implied that this had some significance but neither of these two oddities have been explained in either sequel. It's also odd that despite the attempt to write Spiral out of existence, Mai appears to live in the same apartment building in both movies, which a similar arrangement of furniture.Miki Nakatani is an amazing lead actress, which focused, serious eyes and a captivating demeanor. Watching her react to the poorly-handled, metaphysical nonsense plot just about keeps this movie interesting. There's potential here that is just wasted and you'll give up on attempting to understand it about halfway through.If this is supposed to represent an important Japanese horror legacy I am so far not impressed with these sequels.Summary: I've been around this circle beforeRingu 0 (2000) - 3/5After the confusing and mostly boring Ringu 2 this prequel explores Sadako as a young woman in about 1970 (it's never properly stated) attempting to live a normal life despite being unsure of where she came from or how she has such strange powers. After she kills the lead in a play she is promoted from understudy to the lead actress, meanwhile her castmates become more and more suspicious of her and a reporter with a secret mission begins poking her nose in and arousing further suspicion.Though shot in 35mm, Ringu 0 looks like 16mm and has a rough, downbeat aesthetic to the cinematography, which works in its favor. It feels more energized than Hideo Nakata's approach to the series. Norio Tsuruta dials back the metaphysical nonsense but still manages to lose control towards the end with an evil twin making a sudden appearance. I just dont get it.This entire series just can't keep itself rooted in a believable reality and never bothers to explain some of its random elements. This may work well for David Lynch but I've become very frustrated at the lack of answers and logic in the Japanese Ring movies.An interesting curiousity, which is the best I can say for all of these movies, sadly.All 4 look the best they have ever looked on home video with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, though the rough nature of Ringu 0 means it looks like DVD quality. Sound is decent, and there are plenty of extras as well as a nice booklet included. I can't imagine I'll ever watch these again though, there's just not satisfying as individual movies or as a series.

It feels like we have been waiting ages for the release of The Ring movies on bluray. A horror classic that deserves a re-release and this one does the film justice. I'm extremely impressed with this new Arrow Video release. To make things better, not only do we get the prequel Ring-0 and the sequel Ring 2. We also get the now forgotten true sequel titled Spiral, as well as a serious boatload of extras.For those new to the series, The Ring is a film about a divorced couple investigating a cursed video tape that will see you dead a week after viewing. The plot is nice and simple with a lot of tension that slowly builds up until the end when the thing just explodes. I'm talking about the classic climax that everybody surely knows about (no spoilers). It's very easy to follow and has aged very well. Though younger viewers might be a bit lost with the use of VHS and tube televisions (the movie concept wouldn't work as well on some lame smart phone, would it?). As for the follow up movies, these have always been a bit hit or miss with fans. Ring-0 has an interesting plot, taking place thirty years or so before the original and details the story behind Sadako's up bringing. Ring 2 and Spiral take place directly after the original movie but take the story in two different directions. Neither film is as good as the original but have enough interest behind the story to merit a watch.The collections comes in a nice hard cardboard case. The main movies get their own separate bluray case with all the extras detailed on the back. It also notes that Ring 2 shares a disc with the alternative (original) sequel Spiral. Each film comes with interchangeable art work. The old sleeves (which are on the inside by default) are very '90s and a bit busy looking, whilst the new artwork is absolutely gorgeous and does a wonderful job of capturing the atmosphere of these movies. The book that comes in the box is nicely detailed with lots of interesting facts and some great pictures. It isn't necessary unless you're a big fan but sort of works like the cherry on top.The picture quality for these movies really met my expectations and then some. Each film maintains the film grain found on the original prints, this keeps the original look of the films leaving the atmosphere and art style very much intact. Even with the grain, the films look nice and sharp with lots of nice detail showing through. It's definitely a fine upgrade from the old DVD copies, which didn't look too bad themselves if I'm honest.I know this box-set was a bit pricey but as a fan of Asian horror films, it was worth every penny. It is a great upgrade to my original DVD copies (which can now be passed down to my kids). Fans like myself who have been watching The Ring for 20 yrs will absolutely enjoy this collection. It's a must have and I do encourage you to pick it up before it goes out of print, which these sets tend to do.

After years of questionable-quality NTSC conversion Tartan DVDs, finally we have an excellent 24p, high definition release of the film series that brought Asian horror to the fore in an era where postmodern Scream ripoffs were destroying the horror film. Hideo Nakata's first film in the series, Ring, has been thoroughly buffed up. Arrow have overseen a 4k restoration and the colour grade has been approved by the cinematographer. The Blu-ray's transfer has a far more natural looking grade, unlike its very blue-hued Tartan DVD predecessors. Extras feature enthusiasts more than academics, fortunately, barring one 'essay' which bangs on a bit about things like 'gender identity' and the usual eyerolling pseudo-intellectual nonsense. The other films are represented by masters provided by the film studio. All are very good. I'm particularly partial to Ring 0, which at times rivals the original for creepiness and is my second favourite in the Hiroshi Takahashi-scripted trilogy.The 'Ring 2' disc is particularly delightful as it includes the 'lost' sequel, based on Koji Suzuki's sequel novel 'Spiral.' Spiral was made by a different team at the same time as the original Ring film and features many of the same actors. Unfortunately there wasn't much communication between the two teams during production. Spiral is a reasonably close adaptation of Suzuki's science fiction medical thriller novel, while Nakata's Ring takes huge liberties with Suzuki's novel, turning it into a supernatural horror film. The consequence is that Spiral is a sequel, made in good faith on the assumption that Nakata's film followed the novel closely, and therefore doesn't make sense as a sequel to Hideo Nakata's film. The consequence of all this is that, a year after Ring and Spiral hit cinemas, an alternative sequel, Ring 2, was released by the team who made Ring, featuring many of the actors from both Ring and Spiral. It's an ok sequel, but fails to reach the heights of the first film. Both alternative sequels are interesting to watch as alternative directions the series could have headed off in.Hopefully Arrow will now look at releasing some other J-Horror films, if they can get the rights. The Ju-On films have yet to receive an HD release and the other three Ring films: Sadako, Sadako 2 and Sadako vs Kayako (from the Ju-On films) are crying out to be added to my Blu-ray shelf!A great set, recommended, if you can find it.

What a great way to celebrate over 20 years of one of the greatest Japanese horror films of all time. After many years of waiting, we finally get the The Ring trilogy on Blu-ray courtesy of none other than Arrow Films - therefore we won't be disappointed. All three films, and the the forgotten original first sequel, Spiral (AKA Rasen), are beautifully presented in 4K for The Ring and standard 1080p for its sequels.In keeping with the traditional style of Arrow's fantastic artwork, the three films in separate Blu-ray cases within a large slipbox and the 60-page collector's booklet alongside them. However, this set does not feature any posters or art cards which has been the norm for many Arrow limited edition releases.THE RING: contains new 4K restoration and standard 1080p presentation, Lossless Japanese DTS-HD and PCM 2.0 audio tracks, optional English subtitles, New audio commentary with film historian Davis Kalat, "The Ring Legacy" featurette, "A Vicious Cycle" featurette, "Circumnavigation Ring" video essay, Sadako's video, theatrical trailers.RING 2: contains standard 1080p presentation, Lossless Japanese DTS-HD and PCM 2.0 audio tracks, optional English subtitles, includes bonus feature SPIRAL, "The Psychology of Fear" featurette, theatrical trailers.RING 0: contains standard 1080p presentation, Lossless Japanese DTS-HD and PCM 2.0 audio tracks, optional English subtitles, New audio commentary with author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, "Spooks, Sighs and Videotape" video essay, archival behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes, theatrical trailers.

This review is Arrow's Japanese RING collection. First off the packaging and new artwork on the white side of all of the sleeves by Matt Griffin looks stunning, the reverse side of the sleeves I wasn't as keen on but these sport the original art from the Japanese theatrical posters so if you liked those you may prefer that side! :) That was a minor issue for me personally as I preferred the white side of the sleeves anyway but I did have a soft spot for the artwork from the original Tartan Video release but no bother!As for the transfer RINGU looks beautiful having been restored from and original negative and the extras are an interesting watch as well with many facts I wasn't aware of before.It was nice that they include George Lida's Spiral as a bonus feature as well as I own this as a stand alone DVD so that means I can sell my old boxset AND Spiral! I haven't checked out the transfer of the other movies but the box states these are 1080p presentations so fingers crossed they are an upgrade to my original DVD copies!!?I don't want to give anything away to anyone who hasn't seen the movies but the ending of RINGU still gives me chills and even more so in HD!!!! :OOverall 5/5 all round for another superb Arrow special edition! I wish it was about £10 cheaper but I know these hold value for a very long time so not such a bad thing and collects everything you need in regards to the Sadako trilogy!!